


I'll Stand in the Silence

by CupidStrikes



Series: Keith Week 2016 [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dissociation, Head Injury, Keith Week 2016, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 05:12:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8191495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CupidStrikes/pseuds/CupidStrikes
Summary: Keith's last thought before he passes out is relief, that Shiro and the other Paladins are safe. That the diversion will give them time to escape. That they won't come back, not with this many Galra ships now in the vicinity, and it doesn't matter; they are safe, they are safe and it's okay.





	

**Author's Note:**

> October 2nd: Headcanon/AU | Galra
> 
> Aaaand here we are at the final day of Keith Week 2016! It's been a wild ride, and it ends with the longest and most brutal piece, and one I was looking forward to writing. I'll be giving the boys a little rest before returning with some KM prompts and the second part of 'We Were Never Built to Last' soon!
> 
> CW - Dissociation, blood, severe injury, trauma, (non-sexual) handcuffs.
> 
> Italics are Believe by Mumford & Sons, title is from The End Has Only Begun by Lifehouse, which also featured pretty heavily in my writing of this.

**I'll Stand in the Silence**

 

_I don't even know if I believe  
Everything you're trying to say to me _

 

With blood and heartbeats ringing in his ears, Keith sees the opportunity and takes it

  


Whilst larger and more powerful than its predecessor, the Galra ship's new cannon had a longer cool off time and Keith is charging in as soon as his scanner picks up the lowered energy readings. He is vaguely aware of someone – Lance, Coran, maybe – yelling in his ear that it's too dangerous and that they need more data to calculate the warm up time.

  


Keith ignores them. Kills the comm unit. Sends his Lion into a nose dive towards the inert cannon.

  


He's within spitting distance when several things happen all at once:

  


A fleet of Galra fighter ships appear from a nearby moon, and Keith's attention is on the three ships gaining on him when a second cannon on the main warship fires. It hits the Red Lion in the chest. Once. Twice. The Lion careens off course and Keith is absently aware of the other Paladins' voices through the static on the comms unit. Screaming. Yelling. Keith tries to focus on any one sound as he wrenches at the controls and tries to force his Lion into responding.

  


A third cannon blast hits and the Red Lion hits the lower deck of the ship. The crater causes several smaller explosions but the warship holds its integrity and the Red Lion doesn't move. Keith is aware of Shiro and Pidge over the comms unit, but he can't make out their words over the white noise. He might hear his name but it's lost and when he strains to hear, everything is distant and intelligible aside from the static that is rapidly getting louder. Between the cracks in the dashboard's monitors he can see groups of Galra tech soldiers already making their way to the Red Lion, and he tries to tell Shiro and Pidge to escape while they can, but he can't speak around the liquid in his mouth, and his tongue feels slow and useless.

  


Keith's last thought before he passes out is relief, that Shiro and the other Paladins are safe. That the diversion will give them time to escape. That they won't come back, not with this many Galra ships now in the vicinity, and it doesn't matter; they are safe, they are safe and it's okay.

  


* * *

  


Keith wakes with a start. Jerking forward and abruptly stopping as the movement is impeded by something solid and heavy. He leans back until his head touches the wall behind him and he breathes through the bright claws of panic that clutch at his temples. Opening one eye slowly, he waits for the room to cease pitching back and forth before he opened the other one and slowly took stock of his surroundings.

  


A small metal room. The only light comes from a horizontal slit in the door, and beyond that is purple-tinged semi-darkness.

  


A Galra cell.

  


Keith shifts. Tests each of his limbs in turn. He's bruised and sore, but nothing feels broken. His arms are bound behind his back, and as full awareness returns to him he feels the cool, heavy pressure of the metal cuffs, and with it comes another realisation – his Paladin armour, and with it his Bayard. He's still in his dark undersuit, thank whatever deity for that, but he wonders how long it will be until he is stripped of that too, and handed one of those purple uniforms, and the memory of finding Shiro, scarred and haggard, drugged by Garrison doctors, returns unbidden and Keith shudders against it.

  


He closes his eyes again and tries to ground himself. Resists the urge to struggle against the cuffs. Without the Bayard and the gadgets on his armour he's just a regular human, really. The feeling of helplessness is bitter, and Keith tries to block it out. He focusses on the Red Lion's consciousness, a constant and oddly comforting presence he had been able to feel since after the first time they had formed Voltron.

  


He feels nothing there.

  


Keith can't feel the Red Lion any more, and he feels the edges of his eyes burn with frustrated tears. He had told Shiro, back after the incident with Allura, that he didn't want the Paladins to come after him if he was captured, that he was sure that in all the universe that they could find someone else to pilot the Red Lion. He didn't want anyone hurt on his account, and it was a pointless endeavour for one person out of all the galaxy. And yet...

  


\- And yet, he hadn't thought that Red would depart so quickly.

  


“The most temperamental and difficult to tame, uh.” His voice echoes faintly off the walls. The metal and small space distorts his voice until it is recognisable. It fades away to the engine-hum silence of before and Keith lets it take him with it.

  


He's not sure how much time passes before he hears approaching footsteps and the clatter of Galratech soldiers. He sits up as much as he can, wets his lips and watches the door as a shadow passes over the peep hole. The door opens and Keith has to squint against the light that follows, unable to make out the features of the Galra that approaches him, only the glowing yellow eyes. Keith lifts his chin to meet them, unblinking even as the Galra comes to a stop before him. If Keith had been standing, the Galra was easily a good chest, head and shoulders taller than him, and now, on his knees, the Galra towers impossibly above him.

  


“So you are the Red Paladin. Not much to look at outside your Lion, are you?”

  


In another time, Keith might have risen to the bait, but now he just stares at him. Silent. Barely blinking. Patience yields focus. He had told Shiro never to come after him because he would get himself out.

  


“Not talking? Hm. That's fine, too, the Druids will find out what you know,”

  


Keith's expression barely flickers. Then a large, furry paw is on his face and Keith can't help but flinch back, teeth bared as the hand follows and he snaps at it, closing his teeth over the Galra's finger and biting down hard. He tastes blood, thick and sharp on his tongue, and then the room is sent spinning again as the Galra hits him. It's more a back-hand slap than a punch, but the force of it snaps his head to the side and Keith hears more than feels when the front of his skull hits the wall. Fireworks of white bloom across his vision and when Keith blinks to clear them he sees only black spots instead that block his vision of the Galra leaving, and through the ringing in his ears he strains to decipher the words they are speaking.

  


“....The others.....for him,”

  


“Could....new Champion.”

  


Keith swallows down nausea. Squeezes his eyes shut and breathes through his nose as he fights not to be sick. Tells himself it's just the likely concussion and not the fear tying his insides into knots. He's not afraid of what he might find there, of fighting, of blood and injury and pain. Keith doesn't fear anything they might do to him, but what has him retching, doubling over against the feeling until he topples over, is knowing that he could be used against the other Paladins, against Shiro, and he concentrates on the thought, on communicating it to the Red Lion, even if it's already pursing another Paladin, if she won't ever forgive him this failure, he pleads with her to carry one last message to the other Lions, to Shiro, to stay in the Castle of Lions, to stay away.

  


No response comes.

  


Keith is unsure how long he lies there, dipping in and out of consciousness and being aware of that only by the way his body jerks with each waking. He doesn't look up as he hears patrols pass his cell, and he only opens his eyes when he hears the door open, before closing them again. Feigns unconsciousness for just a little long. It goes well until someone kicks him in the ribs. Keith curls around the pain with a snarl of pain and the struggle is automatic, and he thrashes in his bonds until he feels what is unmistakeably the barrel of a plasma gun being pressed against the back of his neck. He scowls at the Galra – a different one from before – that has come to get him, and he stumbles to his feet when one of the robots grabs his bound wrists and tugs him up. Staggers after them.

  


He has no way of knowing where they are going. Has no intention to ask. He flicks his gaze back and forth as they walk, but the corridors all look the same and he's unsure which direction he is even facing, and all it achieves is making him feel more off-kilter than before. They take him to a control room, and he is forced to kneel again as a larger Galra steps away from the console. His armour is more decorated than that of the one that had collected Keith, and he supposes he's some sort of Commander or General. The Commander looks him up and down slowly and Keith fights the urge to shift and break eye contact.

  


“What command did you give your Lion?”

  


The question throws Keith off, and he fumbles for an answer for a moment. A moment too long and something hits him in the back of his right shoulder. He bites his lip against the cry that tries to break free, and slumps forward as the object lands again. Turning his head to breathe, Keith watches a booted foot come down to rest on his shoulder, and he hears himself gasp as the heel presses down.

  


“Answer Commander Bazaal!”

  


It all feels like it's happening to someone else, and Keith embraces that feeling for as long as it lasts, before he comes back to himself and the aching shell of his body. He waits until the clamouring in the back of his consciousness stills. Opens his eyes. The Galra, Bazaal, is still watching him. Keith opens his mouth and coughs. Red flecks the floor in his immediate vision but he can't work out why. He forgets it immediately as there is pressure on his shoulder and the pain sends his vision dark for a second. He twists around and spits into the face of the Galra leaning over him, but any satisfaction he gleans from it is soon lost as the pressure increases and he crumples back onto the floor. Panting. Gasping. Keith wonders why he can't get any air into his lungs, and then realises it is because the raw, grating sounds that are bouncing around in his head are not tinnitus, or some machinery, but are being torn from his throat.

  


“Enough.”

  


One word. One he isn't even sure he hears. The pressure leaves.

  


It still hurts, but Keith breathes around it and narrows his eyes to a focus point.

  


“What did you do to the Red Lion?”

  


That question again, and Keith doesn't understand. Surely the Galra have already loaded it into the holding bay of the ship, and the forcefield is automatic, there is nothing he can do, and-

  


“Wha....what the fuck are you talking about?”

  


His voice is hoarse, but Keith forces it on through his ragged vocal chords, lifting his head to meet the Galra's yellow gaze. Bazaal scoffs and turns to look back at one of the screens on the monitor behind him, and Keith notices them for the first time. It's small and his vision is out of focus, but he sees well enough to recognise the form of the Red Lion. She's flying. Bursts of white whirl around her as her mouth cannon fires and Keith can't help the swell in his chest at the sight of it.

  


He feels an answering swell in the back of his head, a gentle and reassuring pressure. Scarf during the cold winter nights in the desert. Shiro's hand on his shoulder. And....and Red is there, and her consciousness a solid presence in his mind once again, and Keith gasps in his next breath as warning sirens begin to wail, and he startles back into the moment as the floor shifts beneath him.

  


There is shouting and the whistle of plasma gun fire nearby. Keith rolls to see it. Grits his teeth as he rests his body weight on his injured shoulder to get a look at the door, but it is forgotten as he gets a front row seat to the metal door being broken open and a giddy little noise escapes his throat unbidden.

  


Shiro walks in first, his right forearm glowing purple so brightly that for a moment he is all that Keith sees, and as he blinks to focus he sees blurs of blue and yellow as Hunk and Lance rush in and then everything is like a bright light around him. Keith sees only Shiro through the commotion. He shouldn't be here. He had sworn to Keith that he wouldn't do something so stupid, so dangerous and yet-  
  
\- and yet, Shiro is here. Shiro came for him, and it's like first light after an eclipse. Planetary alignment and in that moment Keith feels like he is floating. Weightless.

  


Then pressure and pain and the moment is broken. Keith twitches away and gasps as it brings fresh hot claws of agony into his consciousness. He looks up carefully and Pidge gives him a weak smile from her position knelt at his side. Her shield flickers out as he leans over him and her mouth moves but he can't hear her. He shakes his head. Regrets it as nausea returns like a weight on his brow, and he settles for closing his eyes and waiting it out. Pidge won't let harm come to him and Keith lets his consciousness drift out of the noise for a moment.

  


He opens his eyes again to Lance leaning over him and he's sitting up now, braced against Lance's chest and he opens his mouth to make a comment about it, but chokes on the words. There are strong arms around him, holding him still even as he can feel his body shake with each cough. The air feels thick when he finally sucks some in without coughing it back up and he feels Lance's hand rubbing circles on his uninjured shoulder. He sees movement in his peripheral vision but he's already slipping and Keith focusses on the little circles Lance is drawing and doesn't fight the darkness.

  


Keith wakes again to cold air, and a bone-deep stiffness that he has come to associate with the healing pods. He shifts each limb slowly. Takes inventory. His right shoulder is sore but movement no longer makes him want to sick or pass out. He opens his eyes slowly and takes in the white walls of the castle, squinting as it hurts and moisture blurs his vision. Too much after so long in the dark. He leads himself out of the pod half-blind, and when he feel hands skirt his arms, he finally looks up, and up, and Lance is grinning at him, his hands brushing over Keith's forearms once more before he takes it as invitation and then Keith is being hugged. He opens his mouth to protest, but then there is warmth behind him, and on both sides, and he lets out a long-suffering sigh that makes the person behind him laugh – Hunk, as Keith recognises the lilt of his chuckle.

  


“Good to have you back, buddy,”

  


Keith looks up and into Shiro's eyes and Shiro is smiling so warm and so genuine that Keith can do nothing else but return it.

  


“Weren't we just so cool when we busted in like that? Even you gotta admit it, Keith.”

  


Keith turns his attention away from Shiro to glare at Lance. It holds none of his usual venom and Lance just grins and knocks his shoulder against Keith's left one.

  


“Hey, and this time I got to cradle you in my arms, so no more-”

  


“So you do remember it happening then?”

  


Lance stops mid-sentence and gapes at Keith. He steps back and raises an accusing finger, his other hand going over his heart. He makes an offended noise but Hunk pushes at him before he launches into an aggrieved tirade.

  


“Yeah yeah, we're big damn heroes. Let's go, dude, c'mon, no crowding.”

  


Hunk gives them an apologetic smile and a wave as he leads Lance out. Keith watches them go. His head still feels a little sluggish, and then Pidge hugs him just tightly enough to ground him back into the moment he finds himself curling an arm around her smaller frame in return before conscious thought even enters the equation.

  


When she looks up at him, her expression is delighted and so he supposes it was worth it either way. She pulls away and lightly punches his good arm.

  


“Don't....don't fucking do that again, you hear?” Pidge glares up at him and Keith finds himself fighting a smile despite how fierce she looks.

  


“Whatever,”

  


He does smile as he says it, and Pidge mirrors it before stepping back and winking at Shiro.

  


“I'll leave you to it, then, Shiro.”

  


She's grinning as she turns away and when Keith looks at Shiro his cheeks are pink and he's rubbing the back of his neck. He shrugs when he meets Keith's eyes and gives him a little smile that leads Keith to him like a gravitational pull and Keith goes into his arms so easily that it takes away the new found energy he has, and he's not terribly embarrassed when he leans a little harder on Shiro. Keith lets Shiro hold him there like that, feels him lower his head to kiss his forehead, hair, and finally the tip of his nose, and Keith pulls a face at the last kiss which makes Shiro laugh and pull away enough to guide Keith's arm over his shoulder. Keith lets himself be lead down the corridor to Shiro's room and into the shower, and Keith finds strength enough to pull Shiro in after him. He slaps the hand panel to start the water and they're both still clothed but it doesn't matter when Shiro is kissing him and up against him and Keith lets himself melt into it.

  


“You came for me.”

  


Keith is as surprised as Shiro when the words come out unbidden, and he steps back to see Shiro's expression, leaning against the cool tile of the shower wall. Shiro shakes his head and cards a hand through his short hair, his fingers clenching up and Keith puts a hand on Shiro's chest, watches him abort the movement.

  


“How could I not?”

  


Shiro doesn't quite look at him when he says it, so Keith reaches up and curls his arms around Shiro's neck. He leans back and traps Shiro in his hold, stares into his eyes and doesn't let him look away. The world slips back into clarity with the grace of a car crash as anger pulses through him.

  


“It could have gone wrong. We talked about this.”

  


Keith expects the snarl and snap of his voice to provoke a reaction but Shiro doesn't flinch, and a little guilt coils up the base of his spine. Keith breaks eye contact first and twists his mouth around the words.

  


“Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you.”

  


He looks up but Shiro is already leaning in and Keith meets the kiss, is grateful for the solid wall behind him as Shiro curls into him and he feels the light tremor that runs through him like an earthquake.

  


“Shiro?”

  


Keith shifts and moves so they are pressed more comfortably against each other. He counts the seconds like breaths until Shiro pulls away, the movement just enough that their eyes can meet and Keith breathes through the dryness in his mouth as Shiro blinks the water out of his eyes even as the shower sends more over his face like tears. His eyeliner is almost smudged away to nothing and Keith thinks that it's been a long time since they last showered together.

  


“I will always come for you, Keith.”

  


Shiro's voice is tight with barely contained anger, and a tinge of upset that makes Keith's arms ache with inactivity but he stays still. Stays perfectly still and gazes into the fathomless grey of Shiro's eyes.

  


“I don't care....I don't care how dangerous it is. Nothing will separate us again.”

  


Especially not the Galra.

  


Keith surges forward, and Shiro meets him halfway. The kiss is messy, and the shower water is rapidly running cold but neither of them make a move to turn it off. Keith's awareness has centred down to one single point and he feels nothing except Shiro's lips around him and his arms around him and he pushes and pulls back, giving as good as he gets, and when the pair stumble out of the shower, stripping off their heavy, sodden clothes and drying off just enough not to soak the bedsheets, they fall into the narrow bed and slot in together under the sheets.

  


Shiro's head in tucked under his chin and his arms a comforting weight around his middle and Keith can feel each movement of Shiro's chest as he breathes, and it feels like he is home at last.

  


_So open up my eyes_  
_Tell me I'm alive_  
 _This is never gonna go our way._  
 _Say something, say something,_  
 _Something like you love me._

 


End file.
